CHICAGO — Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks remain on the struggle bus as the Knicks approach two months out from their loan deals with the Pistons, and questions remain about their futures in a potential playoff rotation. .
Burks, 32, has already had a significantly reduced role since returning from a shoulder sprain, averaging just eight minutes over the past four games.
The return of OG Anunoby on Friday made him the 10th man in the rotation, but coach Tom Thibodeau has no intention of giving any of those 10 players legitimate playing time in the postseason.
Last year, for example, Thibodeau’s rotation was cut to nearly eight players.
Burks is a shot-first offensive player, but he is shooting just 30.8 percent from the field this season with the Knicks.
Since the Feb. 8 trade, he has become the NBA’s least efficient player among players with 100 or more shot attempts. In second place is Detroit rookie Marcus Sasser, who is shooting 31.8 percent from the field.
Burks, who has a net rating of -12.2 with the Knicks, was 0-for-2 with no turnovers and no assists in eight minutes against the Bulls on Friday.
The veteran declined to comment after the game.
Bogdanovic was given more opportunities in the trade with the Pistons, but he only showed off his offensive potential.
His 15 minutes on Friday correlated with the Knicks’ collapses at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the fourth.
The 34-year-old has a minus-9.4 net rating, second-worst on the Knicks behind Burks.
Asked why it was such a struggle for both players, Thibodeau had no answer.
“That’s part of it all,” he said.
The unfortunate part is that the Knicks need both players, but especially Bogdanovic after Julius Randle suffered a season-ending injury.
Without Randle, the Knicks don’t have a player who can reliably generate offense when Jalen Brunson is off the floor.
If Anunoby is healthy and able to lift his playing time restriction (he admitted to playing in less than one game after logging 29 on Friday), Bogdanovic could also be moved out of the rotation.
It all depends on how long Thibodeau can use his other forwards, Anunoby and Josh Hart, and how Precious Achiuwa fits into the mix.
More than 50 years after his last NBA game, two-time Knicks champion Dick Barnett was officially inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame on Saturday.
“Better late than never,” Barnett told the New York Sun. “It’s almost like a dream. I’ve been thinking about it for years.”
Mr. Barnett was voted on by the Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee. The ninth member to be inducted into the Hall of Fame for the 1973 Knicks championship was Clyde Frazier, Willis Reed, Dave Debshire, Red Holtzman, Phil Jackson, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas and Bill Bradley. Continue.
Hall’s classmates in 2024 include Chauncey Billups, Michael Cooper, Vince Carter, Walter Davis, and coaches Bo Ryan and Charles Smith.
